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March 12, 2025

MRL's Rocktown Author Festival Set for April 12, 2025

Massanutten Regional Library is pleased to announce the return of Rocktown Author Festival, an event which highlights local authors and offers support to attendees who wish to become published authors. Rocktown Author Festival will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 10am – 3pm at the Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg and will include the unveiling of the new mural on the Bruce St side of Central Library (weather permitting).

Rocktown Author Festival includes an open forum for the public to meet and greet local authors, purchase their works, and have books signed. The event also includes three panel sessions, led by local experts, designed to inform attendees about getting started in the publishing industry, finding character voice in children’s and young adult writing, and offer insights into self-publishing and traditional publishing. This year, the festival will also include an unveiling of the finished Big Read Mural (weather permitting), painted by Tyler Kauffman. The festival is free and open to the public but advanced registration is required for the panel sessions. Registration is available online at www.mrlib.org.

The schedule for the 2025 Rocktown Author Festival is as follows:

10:00am – 3:00pm - Meet & Greet Local Authors (drop-in; no advance registration required) held in Central Library 1st Floor meeting rooms. Authors exhibiting this year include a variety of genres and areas of specialty: Liz Biddle, James Blakey, Lauralee Bliss, Tammy Cullers, Devlyn D’Alfonzo, Liesl West, Lori D’Angelo, Russ Eanes, Joseph G. Fitzgerald, Beth Ford, Allison K. Garcia, Stephanie S. Gardner, Clifford Garstang, Katie Gigliotti, Amanda K. Gross, Sarah Hanger, Arnold Dale Haywood, Robert Hoskins, Travis Hupp, Brent L. Kendrick, Gayle C Krause, John J. Lamb, Linda H. Miller, Keith Minnion, Maria Palacio, Robyn Puffenbarger, Wendy Reardon, Mary Ruberry, Linda Schnepel, Rosemary Shenk, Avelia A. Shindyapin, Amber Showalter, Zach Stivers, A.D. Stone, Lee Swanson, and Morgan Vega.

10:30 – 11:15am: Panel Session I: Picture This! The Collaborative Process of Publishing Children’s Picture Books (pre-registration required) held in Community Youth Center, 2nd Floor, in Central Library. Moderated by MRL’s Library Director, Zach Elder, panelists include: Gayle C. Krause, Linda H. Miller, Rosemary Shenk, and Amanda Stone.

12:30 – 1:15pm: Panel Session II: Two Sides of the Story: Insights into Traditional and Self-Publishing (pre-registration required) held in Community Youth Center, 2nd Floor, in Central Library. Moderated by MRL’s Library Director, Zach Elder, panelists include: James Blakey, John J. Lamb, Sach Stivers, and Liesl West.

1:30 – 2:15pm: Panel Session III: Stories that Reflect Us All: Writing Diverse Characters and Narratives (pre-registration required) held in Community Youth Center, 2nd Floor, in Central Library. Moderated by MRL’s Library Director, Zach Elder, panelists include: Liz Biddle, Allison K. Garcia, Amanda K. Gross, and Lee Swanson.

This year, MRL’s Rocktown Author Festival, last held in 2024, received the highest number of applications in its history. Due to the increased interest, MRL will be offering one additional panel this year for a total of three and will host 36 local authors.

“Each year, the Rocktown Author Festival continues to grow, and our fifth anniversary is no exception!” Allison Bruekner, MRL Adult Services Librarian organizing the festival, said, “This year, we received a record-breaking number of applications, allowing us to showcase even more local authors. We’re thrilled to provide this opportunity—not just for the authors, but for our entire community to connect, discover, and celebrate local talent.”

“The Rocktown Author Festival is a wonderful celebration of our local literary community, bringing readers and writers together to share stories that inspire, educate, and connect us,” local youth author, Sarah Hanger stated, “I’m thrilled to join this event as a new local author and look forward to sharing my journey and love for storytelling with our community!”

For more information on the festival or to pre-register for the panel sessions, head to www.mrlib.org.

Inform. Inspire. Connect.

© 2025 Massanutten Regional Library
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